A blog on building a happy life by Fionnuala Zinnecker

When Less Is More

This morning it struck me that today is the last proper day of the school holidays. Tomorrow is just the weekend. On Monday school starts back. I’ve had the last three weeks off work and spent this final one at home. As soon as I realised that, my mind went into review mode. “Feck, it is the end of my week at home and I haven’t even…”. Stop. Blank. I hadn’t even what? What had a planned to do this week? Thinking about it, other than drop the older two to camp each morning and spend some one-on-one time with the littlest, there was no plan. This is odd. I plan. I organise. They’re my things. I make lists and tick things off and get things done and don’t waste time.

Looking back at this week, I managed pretty well without a plan. I bought a slow cooker on a whim and replaced our broken milk frother. I finished the quilt I started for my seven year old when he was two. I bought fabric for the quilt I planned to make for the littlest before he was born. He’ll get it in a few weeks for his third birthday. I grocery shopped without and list then came home and spontaneously set into a morning of batch cooking. I baked two loaves of bread and used up the boxes of cannelloni and lasagne that have been in the press since out local Aldi had its last Italien week. I made apple jelly with apples from our tree and elderberry syrup with elderberries from the garden. I caught up on the laundry – ironed even – and make a start on getting rid of baby clothes and the changing table. I took the children to the library twice and once for ice cream. I had a sewing evening with friends. I bought and set up a remote control system for the lamps in the living room – note to self: hide the remote from the children – and got some blog admin done. I bought my godson’s birthday present and my goddaughter’s Christmas present. I had coffee with one friend and brunch with another. I bought my friend Sadhbh’s new book (you can buy it here if you are interested in Irish language books for children).

Pretty much everything was done spur of the moment. I took it easy and did what I felt like. And while I learnt that less is more and sometimes no plan is the best plan, *maybe* I should take a look at my bank balance soon.

Fionnuala is an Irish mama to her three bilingual boys in Germany. She can usually be found, cuppa in hand, in the kitchen or garden with her children, chickens and dog. Planning new projects, writing, cooking, keeping an eye out for vintage treasures and taking photos for her award-winning blog are among her favourite pastimes. Her official job is project manager.